Steem Monsters Common Card Fantasy Story Contest! // Week 16 - The hidden stone

HF20 almost "forked" this one... but seems I'm finally able to post! So here goes my entry for this week's card: Kobold Miner!

Flavour text:

Small we are, but fierce and relentless. We will dig, and dig, and uncover the treasures that lie below. And bewarned: we are little... but our pickaxes are sharp!

The Fire Stone

Another day mining... another day getting those shiny rocks! And maybe today I find that golden one!

That was my thought at sunrise, as I made the short way into the mine again. Never I knew other life, but then again, I can't think of nothing better. We've been called greedy, yes; but if it weren't for us miners, how could they build their blades, and their armour? I couldn't complain of the minekeepers: we deliver, we get payed. Some of the shiny rocks, they have no use for them, and we get to keep what we find. Ooohhh, how I loved those shiny ones... some I don't even know by name, but they are so colorful, so bright... how good they look in my house!

And today I had a feeling I would be lucky. Little my companions knew that I was doing some digging on my own, in the dephts of the mine. A little warmer there, but nothing a Ferexian couldn't withstand!

---

After a bit of common chat and some group work with my fellow kobolds, gathering some of the iron so common in the mines, and telling jokes about the dumb ogres, I left them in my lunch break, and ventured deep into the mine.

I still dont know how I found that part of the mine! It sure was away from the bigger galleries. Maybe my sixth sense telling me something of value was there, maybe pure randomness, I couldn't say. But after that huge emerald, I knew I had to keep digging. Luckily for me, kobold miners are almost one with their pickaxe, and I never felt tired digging the hard rock, no matter how much time I would spend doing it.

The “gallery”, if I could call it that, barely had space for me to fit. This is when I'm glad for my small size! Eheh. And there it was, hidden in plain sight by a recess on the wall. And off I go!

---

Digging for a couple of hours, a couple of diamonds and an opal! I knew this was my lucky day! I will get home, head to Banshee's crib, and drink all the ale I can get today! I thought; and as I lowered my pickaxe, a strange sound... and a hole! There was a chamber on the other side!

What could I have found?? I dug harder and harder, excited with my discovery, and a few minutes later I could fit in the opening. I rushed inside, and when I entered... I couldn't believe my eyes.

Shiny rocks!

Everywhere!

Encrusted on the wall, million of colors darted in every direction as the light of my candle shined upon them. Something inside was telling me this wasn't normal, but I was too mesmerized to realize it. The small chamber had a passage, and I kept walking as I looked around, still not believing what I was seeing. But if I was amazed at that point, my jaw dropped when I reach the end of the passage to a way bigger chamber.

They were everywhere!

The whole floor was covered in shiny rocks!

I started shaking, and had to sit for a while and catch my breath, before venturing inside. It sure was warmer there! But who cared?? I was surrounded by the treasures that were my life! I grabbed handfulls and contemplated how they slipped through my fingers, falling again to the ground. What shall I do with all of them? What shall I d...

"Like what you see, Kobold?"

The thundering voice sent a shiver down my spine, interrupting my thoughts. I froze. Took me a few seconds to turn my head, and there it was.

The fire demon had his flaming eyes set on me, as he emerged from the stones.

"Greedy little thing, aren't you?"

I was doomed. Fire Demons weren't known for their friendly habits, and I had surely stumbled across his lair. How deep in the mine was I?

My mouth opened, but no sound came out of it. I grabbed my pickaxe harder, but knew that it has hopeless.

He laughed.

"What are you going to to with that pickaxe now? Dig a getaway tunnel?"

He raised the hand, and the pickaxe started to get warmer and warmer. I held it for as much as I could, but after a few seconds i had to let her go, and see her melt before my eyes, until only ashes remained.

I faced him, furious. "You didn't had the right!" I screamed. "It was an accident! I didn't kne...."

"SILENCE!"

"Greed is your weakness, and greed will get you killed. But... "

He grinned.

"A riddle for you... answer me, and you'll live:"

Shiny stones, everywhere, up where the eye can see
but almost none matters to me
Little kobold, little kobold, do you know
Which of the stones, makes my eyes glow?

My heart sinked. I was doomed. How could I know? There were dozens of different stones there! And I was sure I didn't knew a lot of them too!

The Demon looked at me. "Think, little kobold, think. But think quick... patience is not a quality of a demon."

What could it be? What could make his eyes glow??

Glow!

Could it be? Were they real? I've heard tales of the stones that could empower the mightiest armies, and their glow was so strong only a few could look and not be blinded. But were they only tales... or not?

"You time has ended. He said. Answer me... or burn."

I almost fainted, but was able to murmur.. . "F-fire stones."

The flame in his eyes seemed to burn even brighter.

"Well well... this was a surprise! So you know what a fire stone is! Tell me what do you know about them."

And I felt relieved. So it was true! They existed! And the demon wasn't going to kill me... our was he? I told him all the tales I knew, while he listened carefully. Then he spoke.

"Demons keep their word. I will let you live... and if you reached this part of the mountain, maybe there is something special about you."

He raised the hand again in my direction... and from the ashes on the ground, a pickaxe was formed again. I picked it up, and it was almost withouth weight!

"This will help you in your new mission. From now on, you will search the fire stones. Your new pickaxe will help you in the process... the fire of demons burns within, and you will know when you are getting close. Get me one of those stones, and you can have all the shiny ones you can carry. You will answer to me only; you have been entitled with a very important mission, in ways you don't understand, and you will keep it to yourself. One word about your mission, and it will be your last. I will know."

I stared at the demon, and didn't had the slightest doubt he was telling the truth.

"Go now... before I change my mind. You know where you can find me now."

As I was making my way to the top of the mine, the demon's words kept echoing in my head. Even if I could tell anyone, who would believe me?

But a magical pickaxe, a cave full of shiny stones... and searching for a fire stone? It truly was my lucky day!